Alleged Ohio gang leader avoids murder charge

CANTON, Ohio (AP) — An aspiring rapper who prosecutors say was a leader of the most violent street gangs in the northeastern Ohio city of Canton has avoided facing a murder charge in the shooting death of a teenager after agreeing to plead guilty to other charges.

In a tense and emotional court hearing on Friday, 20-year-old Lamuel Flowers pleaded guilty to complicity to felonious assault, participating in a criminal gang, and gun and gang specifications.

In exchange, prosecutors dropped charges of murder and felonious assault.

The Canton Repository reports (http://bit.ly/1dcCV6d) that Flowers cursed at the judge in the case after being sentenced to 15 years in prison.

The charges stemmed from the April 2012 killing of 17-year-old Anthony Moore, Jr.